Kate Winslet's husband, Ned Rocknroll, has asked the high court to ban the Sun from publishing a series of "embarrassing" photographs of him at a fancy dress party in 2010.

David Sherborne, the lawyer for Rocknroll, told the court on Monday that the pictures of a "partly naked" Rocknroll in a fancy dress costume were taken at a private party, which had the theme "outrageous", and would cause distress to him if they were printed.

Rocknroll was granted an emergency interim injunction on Thursday evening shortly after the Sun contacted Winslet's publicist about the pictures.

Sherborne told the court on Monday: "This application is not to hide some guilty secret, as I said in the interim hearing. It is not to keep something secret. The claimant is here because the defendant seeks to invade his privacy.

"It was a private party with a private guestlist at a private family home so it is hard to see these photographs as anything other than private family photos."

He told the court that the photos showed Rocknroll "partly naked as part of some silly schoolboy antics at this fancy dress party. It is embarrassing because of what you can see in these pictures."

Sherborne said that Rocknroll was "horrified" at the prospect of the pictures being published by the Sun. They were never intended for public consumption and would cause "considerable embarrassment and humiliation" for Winslet and her children, who would face bullying and taunting if they were made public, he added.

Rocknroll, who was in court wearing a blue pinstripe suit, married Winslet in a low-key ceremony in New York in December. He is the nephew of Sir Richard Branson and was previously head of marketing for Branson's Virgin Galactic space-exploration firm.

The Sun's publisher, News International subsidiary News Group Newspapers, will ask the court to overturn the injunction when the hearing before Mr Justice Briggs continues on Monday afternoon.

News Group Newspapers will argue that the pictures, which were taken from a publicly accessible Facebook profile, were already publicly available. The group will also argue that Rocknroll is a public figure and has a lower reasonable expectation of privacy than an ordinary private citizen.

Desmond Browne QC, for News Group Newspapers, said that Rocknroll had "propelled himself into the position of a public figure" with his marriage to Winslet and a previous interview with Hello! magazine.

He added: "The conduct here was such that some people might legitimately regard it as being unacceptable behaviour – therefore something where public interest for justification for publication arises."

The hearing is expected to end on Tuesday.

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook